Corncob, an agricultural waste, was successfully converted into a novel magnetic adsorbent by a low-temperature hydrothermal method (453 K), including carbonization under saline conditions and magnetization using iron (III) salt. The resultant magnetic carbonaceous adsorbent (MCA) exhibited a porous structure with a higher specific surface area and more oxygen-containing functional groups than its carbonaceous precursor (CP), which can be attributed to the catalytic effect of Fe (III). The adsorption behaviors of both MCA and CP could be described well by Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order model. The adsorption capacity for Methylene blue (MB) revealed by adsorption isotherms were 163.93 mg/g on MCA and 103.09 mg/g on CP, respectively. Moreover, MCA was demonstrated as a versatile adsorbent for removal of both anionic and cationic dyes, and it showed good reusability in regeneration studies. This work provides an alternative approach for effective conversion of biomass waste and application of them in pollutant removal. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.